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The mission of the Larimer County Open Lands
Program is to preserve and protect significant open space, natural areas,
wildlife habitat, develop parks and trails for present and future
generations. These open lands provide opportunities for leisure, human
renewal and protection of our natural and cultural resources.

Present:

Open Lands Board Members:

Brian Hayes

Jim White

Jean Carpenter

Peter Kast

Sue Sparling

Lori Jeffrey-Clark

Duane Pond

Bob Streeter

Bill Newman

Eric Hamrick

Staff

Jerry White

Kerri Rollins

Meegan Flenniken

Patricia Brennan

K-Lynn Cameron

Charlie Gindler

Gary Buffington

Tom Bender

Absent:

Ted Swanson

Mark DeGregorio

Chair, Peter Kast called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.

The minutes of June 25, 2004 were approved by a motion from
Duane Pond seconded by Eric, with one change of deleting Kerri Rollins from the
attendance.

·
Tom Bender handed out information on wolf management in Colorado.
Colorado is using plans from Idaho as an example. Colorado will develop a
plan by November.

PRESENTATION

·
Volunteer and Community Development Program – Patricia Brennan

Patricia reviewed a brief history of the Parks and
Open Lands Department. Staff annually works with over 2,100 volunteers who
contribute over 23,000 hours. Volunteers work on trail building and
maintenance, permits sales and dissemination of information to visitors. An
Adopt-a-trail program maintains about 75% of our trails. Volunteers also do
campground programs, act as campground hosts and help on cleanup projects.
Volunteers lead educational hikes, are on site naturalists and park ranger
assistants. They pull weeds, do clerical work, take photos for publications
and run errands. People of all ages and walks of life volunteer for our
Department, as do groups, organizations and associations. Patricia even has
volunteers from out of state helping with brochure design, web design and power
point presentations.

ACTION:

·
Letter of support for the “Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains
Project” GOCO grant proposal

Eric moved to submit a letter of support to Great
Outdoors Colorado for the LaramieFoothillsMountains to Plains Project. Sue seconded and the motion passed
unanimously.

Discussion Items

·
Proposal regarding Neighborhood Access to Parks and Open Lands – Meegan
reviewed the need for a neighborhood access policy. She then reviewed the
proposed policy that was included in the July packet. Bob commented on #7
that the entity requesting the improvement should pay for the improvements
unless it was a public access that we wanted. Brian asked if a locked gate was
necessary, and Meegan said no, as long as vehicles could not pass through the
opening. Charlie commented we would want a gate if the property was used for
grazing. Jim asked about capacity of the area and adding additional parking
spots that would provide increased access. K-Lynn clarified that these will
not all be public trailheads, this policy is directed to Homeowners Associations
(HOA's) requesting special access. Sue asked if the HOA’s will pay for
additional signage and K-Lynn said they would. Eric suggested that all signs
look the same and be a part of their permit fee to keep a professional look.
Bob asked what the process of applying this policy would be. K-Lynn said a
directional type of sheet could be developed on the steps of the process for
applying for special access. Bob asked if there are some issues/items that are
“deal killers” and he gave some examples. Meegan said staff is still
discussing some of these issues and she will include Bob when she addresses
those points. Jim asked if the groups that are asking for private access
points have had input. K-Lynn said they will be invited to the OLAB meeting when
the next draft of this policy is completed. Peter suggested the policy might
become a part of the management plan.

·
Proposal regarding Memorials on Parks and Open Lands – deferred
to August OLAB

·
User fees for Open Spaces managed as a part of a Parks funded
recreation area:

K-Lynn reviewed the
discussion and public consensus of the Open Lands Program (OLP) charging fees
to enter open spaces. Though paying fees on open lands was delayed for future
years, there are some exceptions that K-Lynn said she would like a better feel
from the Board regarding charging fees at open spaces that abut existing fee
areas. K-Lynn would like the public to have the opportunity to comment on
these exceptions and she will bring it back as an action item at the next
meeting. Open Lands will receive the funds generated from these fees.

Director’s Report

Gary asked the Board what they
thought of a new department name as “the Department of Natural Resources”.
Peter said that the OLP is a voter funded program he would like the name not to
get lost in the mix. Sue suggested the Department of Natural Resources and Open
Lands. Eric concurred that for future ballot initiatives 'Open Lands' must be
in the name. Jim agreed. Bob suggested putting it out to the public to see how
they perceive the meaning. Meegan said that since weeds and forestry are
similar to volunteer and ranger programs that take place on all of our parks
and open lands then maybe we can just keep 'Parks and Open Lands'. Bob said he
thought that all programs would like to be represented in the name. Jean does
not support a change to 'Natural Resources' as there would be significant confusion
with the City of Fort Collins department with the same name. She feels the
public is clear what is in the department by its current title. It is
important to maintain the label 'Open Lands' so the public knows where their
tax dollars are being managed.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: Duane moved to go into Executive
Session. The motion was seconded by Sue and passed unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned by a motion from Duane. The
motion was seconded by Sue and carried unanimously. The meeting was
adjourned at 7:55.